1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 118



Only Noblemtl

Episode 118 – The Key Child

Sakamoto is a key child.

When I got home after school, there was no one there. My parents, both working parents, left home early in the morning and came home late in the evening.

So Sakamoto always wore his house key around his neck. When he came home, other kids would ring the doorbell, but Sakamoto would open the door with his key and go in.

“I’m back (tadaima).”

Whenever he entered the house, he always greeted people even though he knew there was no one there. In the empty house, not even the echoes welcomed him.

Although there was no one at home, fortunately he had other friends.

It was the Nintendo Famicom.

There was a story behind Sakamoto’s acquisition of a Famicom.

One day, when he was in elementary school, he was playing with his friends until late at night and went into an arcade.

I didn’t even realize there was an arcade there, but that day, the arcade door was open.

The inside of the arcade was bright and shiny, and there was the sound of some kind of machine constantly turning and an electronic buzzing sound.

To the young Sakamoto’s eyes, it seemed like some kind of fantasy world.

He couldn’t overcome his curiosity and went into the open arcade.

But it wasn’t a place that young Sakamoto would go to. The fantasy world was a world for adults.

Half of the arcade was occupied by pachinko machines, and men with cigarettes in their mouths were flicking marbles with grim expressions and spitting out curses.

Sakamoto walked inside carefully, step by step.

Beyond the thick haze of cigarette smoke, numerous video game machines were calling out to Sakamoto.

Sakamoto stared in amazement at the video game he was seeing for the first time.

Red, yellow, green.

On the vivid, high-saturation color screen, a space war was waged, Donkey Kong threw drums, and ghosts in rags chased Pac-Man.

“Don’t you have a mother?”

If you spend a long time looking around the game machine, you will occasionally come across a happy old man who won money playing pachinko and will give you some coins.

Sakamoto accepted the coin without saying anything and enjoyed the game.

I felt a little guilty, but that feeling quickly disappeared.

I have a mother, but she’s not by my side right now. If she’s not here right now, then she’s not there. That’s what I thought.

But luck didn’t come often, so Sakamoto started secretly taking coins little by little from his mother’s wallet.

Sakamoto’s escapades did not last long, as the neighbor told his mother about Sakamoto’s visits to the arcade.

“That’s where adults go. And even among adults, only the worst ones go. Do you want to be like that when you grow up? We work day and night to raise you!”

Dad scolded Sakamoto harshly.

Sakamoto was hit by his father for the first time since he was born. His mother was crying next to him.

“Tell me you’re never going back. Quickly!”

I was scared of getting scolded by my dad, and I was also scared of my mom crying because of me.

Sakamoto was wrong to take the coin, but he didn’t know exactly why the arcade was wrong. Still, he cried and apologized.

I swore to my parents that I would never go to the arcade again, and I really haven’t been there since that day.

It wasn’t that he had a heart of steel and cut off the temptation of video games like a knife and devoted himself solely to his studies.

Because my parents bought me a Nintendo Famicom.

“If you really want to do something like that, I’ll buy you this, so just do it at home.”

That’s how Sakamoto became Nintendo Boy.

It wasn’t exactly the same as the games I used to play at the arcade, but I still liked the fact that I could play them at home without worrying about anything.

There was another benefit to having a Famicom. When he said he had a Famicom at home, Sakamoto’s popularity among his friends also soared.

Sakamoto used to always go home alone, but now he often comes home with friends.

Sakamoto played the game so often that he could now hit and drop ducks in Duck Hunt with his eyes closed.

Time passed.

Graduated from elementary school, then middle school, then middle school, then high school.

In the meantime, other game consoles besides the Famicom came out, but Sakamoto didn’t even pay attention to them.

Sega and Atari didn’t have many games to play.

The PC Engine was a bit different. There were a lot of games to play, and the performance seemed decent.

Still, he was a die-hard Famicom fan. It was a game console that held unforgettable memories from his childhood.

Sakamoto’s level of skill with Super Mario was now almost god-level, and since then, he has continued to release masterpieces like The Legend of Zelda, Kirby, Metroid, and Dragon Quest, so there was no reason to look elsewhere.

I played so many games that the pad broke and I had to repair it several times, and when it couldn’t be fixed anymore, I ended up buying another Famicom.

For a full seven years from 1983 to 1989, the Famicom was not just a game console, but his companion console that stayed with him, the key child.

But the boy eventually grows up with time.

On the other hand, time was not on the Famicom’s side. No matter how much time passed, the Famicom did not grow. Games continued to increase in number, but the console’s performance remained the same.

Sakamoto, who had become a high school student, no longer enjoyed playing the Famicom as much as he used to.

After school, I worked hard at the table tennis club and also went sightseeing in Shibuya with my friends.

On a hot summer day, on the school rooftop, I felt the excitement of my first confession to the girl I liked and the pain of my first heartbreak at the same time.

My aching heart couldn’t be soothed even with the Famicom.

When I was young, I had a Famicom that was so fun that I could stay up all night playing it, but now there aren’t many games that interest me.

“Annie? Are you still playing with the Famicom?”

When I brought up the Famicom at school, my friends would laugh and ignore me.

In this way, Sakamoto gradually moved away from the Famicom.

However, he still had not become attached to a new game console. He thought that there would never be another game console that would capture his heart as much as the Famicom.

It’s the last Monday of November, and the year 1989 is coming to an end.

Sakamoto went to school as usual, and his friend Yoichi asked him. Yoichi was the friend who played games the most in the class.

“Hey, do you know what I bought over the weekend?”

“What is it?”

“.”

“What did you see in that magazine last time? Didn’t it say it was a Korean game? What made you buy it? Yoichi, were you actually rich?”

“I bought it just to go crazy. I was going to sell it if it wasn’t fun. I had some extra money, but there weren’t any games to play. But it turned out to be a lot better than I thought.”

“Was it worth it?”

“Yeah, what should I say about this? The feeling of moving around is a bit different from other games? You know that feeling where your fist sticks to your hand? I thought I’d be happy if it was just half as good as . Nope. This is completely different.”

“Yoichi, that’s because you haven’t played yet. I went to the arcade on Saturday and played , and it was really intense. There were sexy girls flying around and fighting, and whoa…”

Sakamoto, who was listening to the conversation from the side, intervened and brought up the topic of .

Soon the two began arguing with Sakamoto in front of him about which was a more fun and perfect action game, Fist of Jongno or Final Fight.

“That’s because you haven’t done . How many people are in ? There are four in Jongro.”

“There are four characters? There are three of us. But aren’t we all similar, except for our appearances?”

“Not at all? One who uses his fists, one who has strong and fast kicks, one who is strong, one who uses an umbrella and a secret weapon. They are all different. Their abilities are different, and their actions are different.”

“Huh? There are women too? only has three men. But they can’t keep up with the fighting, right? The impact of the blows is amazing.”

“It’s the same in Jongno. And there’s also a car chase with a motorcycle in the middle? This is killing me. Is there another game within the game?”

“Well, it’s a console game anyway, right? How can you compare it to an arcade game? Aren’t you saying that because you don’t have any games to play on your Mega Drive?”

“No? This is originally an arcade game, isn’t it? Go to the Sega arcade. It’s right on the first floor. I played it at home on Saturday, and I was so curious that I went to the arcade on Sunday. There were so many people that I had to wait a long time to play it, but it was really well-ported to the Mega Drive. I was really surprised.”

“There’s an arcade? Really? What, I didn’t know that. I should go and check it out. That way we can make a fair comparison.”

The friend who said was the best quietly backed down and went to the store.

Sakamoto began to wonder what game Yoichi, who is quite critical of game evaluations, would praise so highly.

Moreover, I heard it is a Korean game.

“Yoichi, can I go to your house today? I’m curious about that game, too.”

“Oh~, what’s going on? You’re the guy who said that if it’s not a Famicom, it’s not a game? Yeah, it’s time for you to get out of that childish Famicom. Alright! This big brother will show you exactly what a man’s console and man’s game are. Come with me!”

“huh.”

Sakamoto felt like the class was much longer than usual that day, but he held on until it was over.

I’ve often heard that the 16-bit console Mega Drive’s performance is excellent, but there weren’t many games that really caught my eye.

Part of it was because I never went to an arcade since I made a promise to my parents when I was little, so I never played many Sega games.

Yoichi always complained that Nintendo games were too childish to play, but he also had a bit of a rebellion, thinking, “Look at how great they are.”

“Okay, let’s do it for two people right away.”

“I’m not good at these types of games. I’ve never played them before.”

“Don’t worry. Just follow this hyung. I’ll knock them all down.”

In character selection, Yoichi chose Isamu, and Sakamoto chose New York.

The graphics seen in the game’s intro looked cool to Sakamoto. It was also a strangely familiar sight.

“Command is, look. If you feed the technique like this!”

– Avenging your friend is true patriotism!

“Oh! That makes sense?”

“What do you think? Let’s kill them. Hey, the kids are coming. Oh~, since this is a two-player game, there are definitely more enemies. Don’t hang around there and come behind me. We need to block each other’s backs so we don’t get stolen.”

As the game began, Yoichi began to give loud lectures. Sakamoto listened with one ear and let it go out the other, concentrating on the game.

Sakamoto had only heard about it before, but this was his first time playing a game on a Mega Drive.

Just by looking at the game screen, you could tell at a glance that it was much more advanced and detailed than the Famicom.

The complex screen with numerous characters moving simultaneously in various colors was a dazzling new world to Sakamoto, who was only familiar with 8-bit games.

’16 bits is like this?’

I didn’t really notice it when I only saw a small screenshot in a magazine, but I could really feel it when I saw it in person on the TV screen.

What was even more surprising was the character’s responsiveness. When Sakamoto pressed a button, the character responded instantly, as if a spring had sprung up.

The larger character moved more smoothly, so it felt like looking at a real person. The larger movements made the action look much more refreshing.

The intense production and rhythm of hitting, kicking, and getting hit was unlike any game he had ever known.

Going from 8-bit to 16-bit was a real world changer.

All of a sudden, the Famicom games he had cherished so dearly began to feel too babyish, too bland, too childish.

Sakamoto wasn’t the only one who grew over time.

The game had also grown from an 8-bit boy to a 16-bit young man. It was just that Sakamoto closed his eyes and ears to the changes.

“So that’s why they say 16-bit, 16-bit···.”

“What do you think? Isn’t it so cool? What did I say? It’s been a long time since the Family Computer graduated.”

“Are all other 16-bit games like this?”

“I wish it were, but honestly, it’s not like this. This is one of the best Mega Drive games ever. It’s a total mystery how they made a game like this in Korea. Sega guys, you should all be standing in the hallway with your hands up. No, they make games like this in Korea too! What have you been doing with the Mega Drive up until now? How lazy!”

“I see.”

Yoichi grumbled as he spoke, seeming really angry. He was pouring out his anger on the game.

Sakamoto also pressed and pressed the button hard to adapt to a completely new dimension of gaming world.

It was fundamentally different from fighting Koopa Troopers or chasing mushrooms with cute Mario.

Sakamoto suddenly remembered the old men sitting in front of the pachinko machines in the arcade when he was a child. He couldn’t remember their faces, but he remembered their unique atmosphere.

I thought I had forgotten everything. I hadn’t. It was just sleeping deep in my memory.

It wasn’t that I particularly admired the pachinko parlors, but this game had something that Sakamoto couldn’t approach or imitate at the time.

was a game that had an adult feel to it.

As Yoichi said, was different. Sakamoto’s heart was pounding as he played the game for the first time in a long time.

“I have to buy this.”

“As expected! I knew it. Congratulations on graduating from the elementary school of gaming, Sakamoto!”

Yoichi raised his hand, and the two of them high-fived each other with a resounding “clap!”

The expressions on both of their faces were extremely serious.

“I guess I should look for a part-time job. How much does a Mega Drive cost?”

Now a high school student, Sakamoto can no longer ask his parents to buy him everything like he used to.

In the meantime, my parents divorced, and now I live with my mom. My mom works harder than before.

Sakamoto could no longer be a boy.

I don’t wear my keys around my neck anymore.

I thought games became less fun because I grew up, but that wasn’t the case. I just couldn’t find a game that suited me as I grew up.

The childhood of gaming was over. Now it was the 16-bit era.